Animated garment hanger



June 14, 1955 e. c. MYERS, JR 2,710,489

7 ANIMATED GARMENT HANGER Q .Filed Dec. 12, 1951 INVENTOR.

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United States Patent 2,710,489 Patented June 14, 1955 ice ANIMATED GARMENT HANGER Garry C. Myers, Jr., Columbus, Ohio, assignor to Happy Hang-Ups Inc., Columbus, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application December 12, 1951, Serial No. 261,208

3 Claims. (Cl. 46-116) My invention relates to an animated garment hanger. It has to do, more particularly, with a garment hook for children which is so designed and constructed as to create.

an interest or incentive to motivate children to hang their clothes upon it.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a garment hook in combination with mechanism which is actuated by the act of hanging a garment on the hook, such mechanism being so designed and constructed that the action thereof will appeal to a child and will thus provide an incentive or interest to the child to motivate the child to hang garments on the hook.

Another object of my invention is to provide a device of the type indicated wherein the actuating mechanism is sensitive so that it will be readily operated by a lightweight garment or hat hung on the hook but which still is sufficiently rugged to withstand relatively heavy weights without damage thereto.

Another object of my invention is to provide a device of the type indicated which will be simple and inexpensive to manufacture, being composed of a minimum number of parts, and which will withstand wear caused by the continued intermittent actuation of the device.

Various other objects will be apparent.

My invention preferably takes the form of a plaque which may be fastened to a wall or suspended from a support, such as a rod, the plaque being provided with movable features. The features are adapted to be rearranged through the medium of mechanism actuated by a hook upon which garments or other objects are to be hung. The hook is so connected to the feature-rearranging mechanism that a slight weight applied thereto will actuate such mechanism. However, means is provided for limiting movement of the hook so that such mechanism will not be damaged. As soon as the weight of the garment or other object is eliminated from the hook by removing the object, the feature-rearranging mechanism will return to its original condition.

Preferably the plaque will take the form of a face, some character, animal, human or inanimate. The action of hanging the clothing upon the hook will change the expression of the face, preferably, from a frown or unhappy expression to a smile registering approval. This will provide an incentive to a child to hang up his garments. The power of social approval is one of the strongest motivating forces in children. My device employs this principle to develop in children the habit of hanging up their articles of clothing rather than simply strewing them about.

The preferred embodiment of my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein similar characters of reference designate corresponding parts and wherein:

Figure 1 is a front view of the device embodying the principles of my invention.

Figure 2 is a similar view showing the device with a garment hanging on the hook and with the movable features thereof rearranged.

show the actuating mechanism of the device.

Figure 4 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken through the device of Figure 1.

With reference to the drawings, I have illustrated my device of taking the form of a wall plaque which may be fastened to a fiat vertical surface. However, it is to be understood that the device may be suspended from any suitable support.

In general, the device takes the form of a plaque with movable features, the features being rearranged by hanging an article on the hook associated with the plaque.

In the example shown, the front or face plate of the plaque is in the form of a disc 1. Upon the front surface of this disc 1 certain facial features, for example, the eyes E and nose N, are painted or printed. The disc is made of rigid material, such as masonite, plywood, plastic sheet or the like, and may be manufactured in shapes other than the disc shown in order to more appropriately represent a given character. For example, it may have the shape of a monkeys head, a clown with cap, an elephant with big ears and so on. Directly behind the face plate or disc 1 is the spacer plate or disc 2 which is hollow at its center to provide a chamber C which accommodates the feature-rearranging mechanism of my device. The spacer plate 2 is preferably made of the same material and of the same outline as the member 1. Mounted on the plate 2 is a disc or plate 3 of similar material and of similar outline. The discs 1 and 3 serve to cover the forward and rearward sides of the chamber C.

The movable features for changing the facial expression may take various forms but in this particular instance they include a pair of movable eyebrows 4 and a pair of movable mouth end sections 5. These movable sections are free to rotate on pivots and are actuated by the mechanism to be described below. They are preferably formed of some rigid material, for example, they may be molded from some colored plastic material. Between the end sections 5 of the month, there is a fixed section 6 which may be suitably attached to the face of the disc 1 and this section may be of the same material as sections 5.

A metal clothes hook 7 is provided and'the vertical straight portion of this hook extends upwardly through a guide channel or slot 711 formed in the lower part of the disc 2 and extending completely through the edge of the disc into the chamber C. The plates or discs 1, 2 and 3 are preferably held together by hollow rivets 9 which also provide screw holes for attaching the plaque to a vertical surface. However, as indicated by dotted lines in Figure 4, a hook may be secured to the disc 3 at the top edge thereof for suspending the entire device from a suitable support.

The upper end of the hook 7 is bent at right angles at 7b and this bent portion is embedded in a crosshead or block 12 which may be molded of suitable plastic material. It will be apparent that vertical movement of the hook '7 will move the block 12 vertically. The block is of sufiicient thickness so that it snugly fits in the chamber C between the discs 1 and 3. Thus, front to rear movement of the crosshead will be precluded. Lateral movement will be prevented by the straight vertical portion of the hook 7 cooperating with the slot or channel 7a. The lowermost position of the hook will be positively limited by the lower edge of the crosshead 12 striking a stop shoulder 14 formed on the disc 2 at the edge of chamber C.

Each of the eyebrow members 4 is carried by a pin or shaft which is rotatably mounted in the forward and rearward discs 1 and 3 and which is formed integral with a crank arm 10. The outer ends of these arms 10 are pivoted to vertical links 11 which have their lower ends pivoted to the outer ends of the crosshead 12. The movable sections 5 of the month are similarly mounted, the

crank arms 10a thereof being actuated by upwardly extending links 11a which are pivoted to the crosshead 12 at each side of the upper portion of the hook 7.

It will be apparent that vertical movement of the cross head 12-will rearrange the movable features 4 and 5 of the face. They are preferably arranged, as indicated in Figure 1, so that the face will have a frown in the normal condition of the device, that is, when there is no weight on the hook 7. The movable features are normally kept in this condition by means of a leaf-spring 13 which is disposed in the chamber C and which is anchored at its ends in the disc 2 and is connected midway between its ends to a lug 13a formed on the top edge of the crosshead 12. However, it will be understood that as soon as the weight is applied to the hook 7, the crosshead 12 is moved downwardly against the force of the spring 13 until it contacts with the top 14. This downward movement will exert a downward pull on the links 11 which will swing the crank arms 10 and rotate the eyebrows 4 about their pivots. Similarly, the links 11a will be pushed downwardly and will rotate the crank arms 10a and cause the movable mouth sections 5 to swing about their pivots. The result will be a smiling appearance on the face, as shown in Figure 2. Only a very slight force will overcome the resistance of the spring 13 but the stop 14 will prevent damage to the spring regardless of the weight which is applied to the book 7.

As soon as the weight is relieved from the hook 7, the spring 13 will return the movable features 4 and 5 to the positions shown in Figure 1.

It will be apparent from the above description that I have provided a garment hanger in the form of a clothes hook which is provided with associated mechanism that will provide an interest or incentive for motivating a child to hang his clothes upon the book. The device is inexpensive and will not become inoperative due to hard and continued usage. The device can be made in various forms, one example being shown. In its boardest aspect, the device comprises a plaque in the form of some character which has movable features that are rearranged by mechanism actuated by the hanging of a garment or other object on the hook or other hanger connected to such mechanism.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A garment hanger of the type described comprising a housing having an animative face, means for supporting said housing on a suitable support, movable features mounted on said face and comprising movable eyebrow and mouth sections pivoted on the face, cranks behind the face and connected to said sections to actuate them, a vertically movable actuating member within the housing and operatively connected to said cranks, and a garment hanging member suspended from said actuating member and extending downwardly from 'the housing and being movable into and out of the housing to move said actuating member to cause it to move said cranks for moving said movable eyebrow and mouth sections.

2. A garment hanger of the type described comprising a housing having an animative face, means for supporting said housing on a suitable support, movable features mounted on said face and comprising movable eyebrow and mouth sections pivoted on the face, rotatable members behind the face and connected to said sections to actuate them, a vertically movable actuating member within the housing and operatively connected to said members, a garment hanging member suspended from said actuating member and extending downwardly from the housing and being movable into and out of the housing to move said actuating member to cause it to move said members for moving said movable eyebrow and mouth sections, and a spring for returning said actuating member to its original position and to maintain it in such position when the weight of the garment is removed from said garment hanging member.

- 3. A garment hanger of the type described comprising an animative face including mechanically movable features on the face, means for supporting said face on a suitable support, an actuating member mounted behind the face for vertical movement and operatively connected to said movable features, a garment hanging member suspended from said vertically movable actuating member and extending downwardly below the face and being movable downwardly by the weight of a garment hanging thereon to move said actuating member to cause it to move said movable features, and yieldable means for returning said actuating member to its original position so as to restore the movable features to their original condition and to maintain it in such position when the weight of the garment is removed from said garment hanging member.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 13,611 Holmberg Sept. 2, 1913 D. 74,158 York Dec. 27, 1927 D. 99,307 Remling Apr. 14, 1936 152,195 Turnbull June 16, 1874 698,324 Sanger Apr. 22, 1902 1,164,816 Huston Dec. 21, 1915 1,653,327 Wilson Dec. 20, 1927 

